J-'YYi'yw'  Q_ 


REPORT  OF  THE 

Commission  on  the 
Association  and  the  Immigrant 

TO  THE  THIRTY-EIGHTH  INTERNATIONAL  CONVENTION  OF  THE 
YOUNG  MEN’S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 
OF  NORTH  AMERICA 

Meeting  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 

May  15-18,  1913 


Jeremiah  W.  Jenks,  Chairman 
John  Sherman  Hoyt,  Vice-Chairman 
Prof.  W.  B.  Bailey,  New  Haven 
Dr.  Dana  Bartlett,  Los  Angeles 
Prof.  Thos.  N.  Carver,  Cambridge 
Prof.  John  M.  Coulter,  Chicago 
S.  P.  Fenn,  Cleveland 
Edwin  Farnham  Greene,  Boston 
Dr.  J.  K.  Hart,  Seattle 
E.  Koehn,  Hamburg,  Germany 
D.  C.  Lively,  Portland,  Oregon 
R.  N.  Lynch,  San  Francisco 


Prof.  S.  C.  Mitchell,  Columbia 
William  F el lowes  Morgan,  New  York 
John  Penman,  Paris,  Ontario 
Jas.  C.  Rae,  Pittsburgh 
Swan  Samson,  Tacoma 
Dr.  E.  A.  Steiner,  Grinnell 
Dr.  Antonio  Stella,  New  York 
Hon.  Robert  Watchorn,  Los  Angeles 
H.  W.  Wiggs,  Quebec,  Quebec 
Frank  Yeigh,  Toronto,  Ontario 
Major  Frank  Young,  R,  A., 

Sussex,  England 


Report  of  Commission 

on  the 

Association  and  the  Immigrant 

CONTENTS. 

I.  STATISTICAL  STATEMENT. 

1.  United  States. 

2.  Canada. 

II.  THE  NEEDS  OF  IMMIGRANTS. 

1.  In  Transit. 

2.  At  Points  of  Distribution. 

3.  In  Communities. 

III.  MEETING  THE  NEEDS  OF  IMMIGRANTS. 

1.  Government  Regulations. 

2.  Volunteer  Service. 

(a)  Religious  Organizations. 

(b)  Philanthropic  Organizations. 

(c)  Settlements. 

(d)  Local  Committees. 

IV.  ASSOCIATION  ACTIVITIES. 

1.  European  Port  Work. 

2.  Steerage  Work. 

3.  North  American  Port  Work. 

4.  Points  of  Distribution. 

5.  Inland  Work. 

6.  The  Industrial  Service  Movement. 

7.  Literature. 

8.  Experimental  Work. 

V.  POSSIBILITIES. 

1.  In  Associations. 

2.  In  Lectures. 

3.  In  Follow-Up  Work. 

4.  On  Board  Ships. 

5.  In  Port  Work. 

6.  In  Co-operation. 

7.  In  Teaching  English. 

VI.  RESOLUTIONS. 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  3 


I.  STATISTICAL  STATEMENT. 

1.  United  States. 

The  census  of  1910  gives  the  number  of  the  foreign-born  as 
13,343.583.  or  14.5  per  cent  of  the  population.  Since  January  1,  1910,  to 
January  1,  1913,  2,776,131  immigrants  have  entered  and  1,537, 194  have 
left  the  country,  leaving  a net  gain  of  1,238,937.  Deducting  200,000  due 
to  mortality  from  the  total  number  of  foreign-born  in  1910  we  have  an 
estimate  of  14,582,000  in  the  country  at  present. 

The  census  figures  show  that  71  per  cent  of  all  immigrants  in  the 
country  were  located  in  the  states  east  of  the  Mississippi  and  north  of 
the  Ohio  and  Potomac  Rivers.  This  territory,  having  fifteen  of  the 
forty-eight  states  of  the  Union,  has  a total  area  of  443,118  square  miles 
or  14.9  per  cent  of  the  land  area  of  Continental  America. 

There  are  in  the  United  States  229  cities  of  25,000  population,  and 
158  of  these  cities  are  in  the  territory  where  71  per  cent  of  the  immi- 
grants are  located.  This  section  may  be  called  the  work-shop  of  the 
nation.  Eighty-one  per  cent  of  the  iron  and  steel  manufactured  in 
America  is  produced  in  the  North  Atlantic  and  North  Central  states,  94 
per  cent  of  the  silk  produced,  92  per  cent  of  the  woolen  goods,  88  per 
cent  of  the  clothing,  77  per  cent  of  the  hosiery  and  knit  goods  and  60 
per  cent  of  the  cotton  goods. 

The  immigrants  are  found  in  urban  communities  and  form  more 
than  50  per  cent  of  the  force  employed  in  mining  and  quarrying,  in 
clothing  manufacturing,  in  iron  and  steel,  oil  refining,  slaughtering  and 
meat  packing,  furniture  making  in  tanneries,  in  woolen  and  worsted 
works,  in  cotton  mills;  about  50  per  cent  of  the  labor  force  in  the  sugar 
refineries,  in  boot  and  shoe  manufacture,  in  car  repairing  shops,  on  rail 
road  maintenance,  in  chemical  works,  in  paint  works,  in  asphalt  works, 
in  smelting  and  refining,  are  foreign-born;  while  two  out  of  every  five 
employed  in  the  glass  industry,  in  silk  mills,  in  glove  factories,  in  cigar 
and  tobacco  factories,  are  of  foreign  birth. 

These  men  form  an  important  factor  in  the  wealth  production  of  the 
country,  but  the  fact  that  14,500,000  foreign-born  peoples  are  in  the 
country  has  precipitated  problems  which  perplex  statesmen,  challenge 
philanthropists  and  reformers  and  test  the  fundamental  truths  of  a Chris- 
tian faith. 

2.  Canada. 

Canada  in  1911  had  1,368,860  foreign-born,  or  19  per  cent  of  its 
population.  In  the  decade,  1901-1911,  1,715,326  immigrants  entered  the 
Dominion,  39.2  per  cent  of  whom  came  from  the  British  Isles,  31. 1 per 
cent  from  the  United  States,  and  25.7  per  cent  from  Continental  Europe; 
in  other  words,  three  out  of  every  four  immigrants  entering  Canada 
came  from  English-speaking  countries.  It  is  a fact,  however,  that  19 
per  cent  of  the  immigrants  from  the  United  States  is  foreign-speaking, 
which  retards  the  process  of  their  assimilation. 

The  number  of  immigrants  entering  the  Dominion  in  the  last  decade 
is  very  significant.  The  total  immigration  into  the  Dominion  from 
1851  to  1901  was  about  550,000  (544,380);  but  in  the  last  decade  more  than 
three  times  that  number  entered. 

The  total  number  of  non-English  speaking  immigrants  in  the 
Dominion  at  present  is  estimated  at  500,000,  or  about  7 per  cent  of  the 
population.  The  urban  population  in  Canada  during  the  last  decade 
increased  four  times  as  rapidly  as  the  rural  (62.25%-i7.i6%).  The 
majority  of  the  foreign-speaking  from  the  continents  of  Europe,  Asia 
and  India  entering  the  Dominion  locate  in  the  cities.  Three  out  of  every 


4 Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


four  persons  entering  Canada  from  the  continent  of  Europe  came  from 
Southeastern  countries  which,  economically  speaking,  are  least  favorably 
situated.  Hence  this  drift  into  the  cities  gives  the  statesmen,  philan- 
thropists and  church  leaders  in  Canada  the  same  problems  as  are  con- 
fronted by  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The  number  of  foreign- 
speaking men  in  camps,  quarries  and  mines,  in  small  mill  towns  and 
tanneries,  in  the  United  States  is  large,  thus  making  small  groups  of 
aliens,  isolated  from  Americanizing  influences,  a problem  that  is  per- 
plexing and  serious. 

II.  THE  NEEDS  OF  IMMIGRANTS. 

The  needs  of  immigrants  are  threefold: 

1.  In  Transit. 

2.  At  Points  of  Distribution. 

3.  In  Communities. 

1.  In  Transit. 

When  an  emigrant  leaves  home  for  a new  country  he  needs  safe 
transportation,  good  food,  sanitary  accommodations,  information  as  to 
baggage  and  tickets,  and  protection  against  exploitation.  Most  immi- 
grants come  from  agricultural  communities  and  are  ignorant  of  the  ways 
of  the  world.  Some  are  robbed  at  ports  of  embarkation,  others  lose 
their  baggage,  whilst  most  know  little  or  nothing  about  traveling.  Few 
immigrants  know  the  value  of  the  money  of  the  country  to  which  they 
go  and  are  grateful  for  a word  of  explanation;  unnecessary  pain  and 
inconvenience  both  on  land  and  sea  could  be  avoided  by  suggestion;  and 
the  comfort  and  pleasure  of  the  voyage  could  be  enhanced  by  the  pres- 
ence of  a sympathetic  friend.  When  the  immigrant  lands  in  North 
America  he  is  still  subjected  to  a series  of  temptations,  and  he  is  not 
safe  until  in  the  home  of  relatives  or  friends.  These  needs  can  be  met 
by  literature,  suggestion  and  personal  touch;  and  of  these  three  the  last 
is  the  greatest.  The  Canadian  Northern  steamers  have  on  board 
Ship’s  Mothers — women  who  are  friends  to  girls  and  mothers  crossing 
the  ocean,  and  the  same  company  has  on  its  trains  a welfare  man  who 
renders  similar  help  to  all  on  the  train. 

2.  At  Points  of  Distribution. 

The  immigrant  after  landing  wants  to  get  to  his  friends  as  soon  as 
possible.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  immigrants  in  America  and  fifty- 
five  per  cent  in  Canada  bring  an  address  with  them,  but  it  often  requires 
a Christian  to  patiently  decipher  it  and  guide  the  immigrant  aright. 
When  his  destination  is  a large  city — such  as  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Boston  or  Montreal — it  is  difficult  to  locate  the  street  and  number. 
Cabmen  are  always  ready  to  serve  the  immigrant,  but  few  of  these  men 
treat  him  honestly  and  sympathetically.  He  needs  a reliable  escort  in 
order  that  he  may  reach  his  friends  quickly  and  safely. 

3.  In  Communities. 

The  immigrant,  as  soon  as  he  is  located,  wants  a job.  When  work 
is  abundant  he  finds  it  without  much  trouble.  Many,  to  their  sorrow,  go 
to  unscrupulous  labor  agents.  The  government  immigrant  halls  of 
Canada  are  attempts  to  guard  against  these  abuses.  Several  of  our 
states  have  passed  laws  to  prohibit  wrongs  of  this  character,  but  no 
adequate  means  is  furnished  to  replace  labor  agencies,  to  which  an 
immigrant  in  quest  of  work  will  give  his  last  dollar. 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  5 


The  immigrant  also  is  imposed  upon  by  foremen  who  make  the 
worker  feel  that  the  continuation  of  his  job  depends  upon  the  bonus  he 
is  willing  to  give.  Sometimes  cunning  knaves,  running  employment 
bureaus,  work  upon  the  credulity  of  men  and  take  their  money.  The 
immigrant  is  helpless  in  their  hands  unless  some  influential  friend  gets 
the  ear  of  the  superintendent  and  champions  the  cause  of  the  oppressed. 

Petty  lawsuits  is  another  source  of  exploitation.  Many  foreign  men 
are  unjustly  arrested  by  petty  officials  who  trump  up  false  charges  and 
the  man  is  thrown  into  prison,  from  which  he  seldom  escapes  without 
paying  a price.  Others  are  defrauded  of  their  wage,  while  many  more 
are  robbed  by  foreign  banks.  In  scores  of  ways  these  ignorant  and 
helpless  men  are  like  bewildered  children  when  difficulty  confronts  them, 
and  unless  a friend  helps  them  in  the  hour  of  distress,  they  fall  victims 
of  pitiless  sharks — mostly  their  own  countrymen — who  take  their  last 
dollar. 

The  immigrant  needs  help  to  overcome  these  wrongs,  and  the  one 
great  need  is,  a knowledge  of  the  English  language.  When  a man  can 
himself  go  to  the  foreman  to  ask  for  a job,  when  he  can  talk  to  the 
English-speaking,  when  he  knows  that  he  can  find  help  by  consulting 
an  agency  that  is  ready  to  champion  his  cause,  the  number  of  victims 
will  diminish  and  the  wrongs  these  men  suffer  will  be  fewer. 

Foreign-born  men  who  have  been  in  the  United  States  five  or  more 
years,  are  generally  anxious  to  secure  the  rights  of  citizenship.  The 
examination,  however,  is  difficult  and  they  know  not  how  to  prepare 
for  it.  Tens  of  thousands  of  aliens  in  our  cities  would  gladly  become 
full  members  of  the  family  if  they  were  given  a helping  hand  to  pass 
the  required  examination. 

The  immigrants  also  find  the  ordinances  of  a municipality  hard  to 
comprehend.  They  are  generally  taught  in  the  police  court.  Most  of 
them  come  from  agricultural  communities  where  municipal  ordinances 
are  unknown.  They  know  not  how  to  live  in  populated  industrial  cen- 
ters, and  do  not  either  wilfully  violate  city  ordinances,  or  obstinately 
oppose  health  officers,  etc.,  they  simply  do  not  know;  if  told  once  they 
are  liable  to  forget,  for  they  were  never  drilled  to  live  in  congested 
tenements. 

The  immigrant  should  also  know  North  America — what  are  its  eco- 
nomic opportunities,  its  educational  institutions,  its  industrial  develop- 
ment, its  political  organization  and  its  religious  liberty.  If  he  makes  his 
home  in  the  new'  world,  he  will  be  the  better  man  for  us;  if  he  returns 
to  his  native  country,  the  broader  intelligence  and  larger  conception  of 
life  he  possesses,  will  make  him  a better  member  of  the  country  to 
which  he  belongs.  North  America  has  received  much  from  the  achieve- 
ments of  great  men  in  Europe,  it  can  pay  a part  of  the  debt  it  owes  by 
informing  the  immigrants  coming  to  our  shores  of  the  institutions  which 
have  made  North  America  what  it  is. 

III.  MEETING  THE  NEEDS  OF  IMMIGRANTS, 
i.  Government  Regulations. 

(a)  In  Europe. 

Every  government  receiving  or  losing  men  by  migration  has  passed 
legislation  to  regulate  the  inflow  and  outflow.  No  effort  has  ever  been 
made  to  co-ordinate  these  laws,  and  in  some  instances  conflict  of 
interests  has  resulted.  Many  matters  of  common  interest  to  all  nations 
should  be  freely  discussed  and,  if  wisely  determined,  would  add  much 
to  the  comfort  of  emigrants.  Each  European  nation  now  looks  after  its 
people  as  best  it  may. 


6 Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


Emigrants  cannot  leave  Europe  as  they  have  a mind  to.  Russia  will 
not  permit  its  subjects  to  leave  without  a passport;  France  and  Ger- 
many, Hungary  and  Austria,  Italy  and  Greece,  insist  upon  its  subjects 
serving  in  the  army  before  they  leave  for  foreign  countries.  In  each  of 
the  continental  countries  the  shipping  companies  are  carefully  watched 
and  their  business  regulated;  the  leading  nations  of  Europe  also  regu- 
late the  condition  on  ship  as  to  space,  food  and  treatment,  while  the 
Italian  government  has  a representative  on  board  every  ship  transport- 
ing its  subjects  to  foreign  shores,  to  see  that  the  provisions  of  the  law 
regulating  transportation  are  complied  with.  The  Italian  government 
also  studies  conditions  in  foreign  countries,  and  if  they  are  not  satis- 
factory, it  prohibits  its  subjects  from  going  there.  This  provision  has 
been  copied  by  Austria  and  Hungary,  and  these  governments  have 
refused  to  send  their  subjects  to  certain  states  of  the  Union  because  of 
adverse  labor  conditions.  The  governments  of  Italy  and  Russia,  Austria 
and  Hungary,  also  keep  in  close  touch  with  their  subjects  in  this  coun- 
try. Each  of  them  has  an  immigrant  home  in  New  York  where  the 
subjects  of  the  respective  governments  coming  from  or  returning  to 
Europe  may  find  shelter,  counsel  and  aid.  The  governments  of  Italy, 
Hungary  and  Austria  have  also  facilitated  the  sending  of  money  to 
fatherland,  while  each  government  maintains  agencies  to  protect  the 
interests  of  its  subjects  in  foreign  lands.  European  countries  do  not 
prohibit  their  sons  from  becoming  citizens  of  the  countries  to  which 
they  go,  but  if  they  swear  allegiance  to  a foreign  government  and  then 
visit  their  native  country,  they  can  only  stay  for  a limited  time.  The 
close  touch  kept  by  the  governments  of  the  Balkan  States  with  their 
subjects  was  well  exhibited  in  the  recent  war  with  Turkey;  the  repre- 
sentatives of  these  governments  called  men  from  all  over  North  America, 
and  they  responded  readily. 

(b)  In  North  America. 

The  United  States  and  Canada  in  North  America  receive  immigrants 
and  each  has  its  regulations  governing  their  admission.  Of  course,  con- 
ditions are  very  different  in  the  two  countries,  and  these  are  reflected  in 
the  laws  regulatig  immigration.  Canada  has  much  land  to  be  settled, 
all  the  areable  land  of  the  United  States  is  preempted;  the  Dominion 
has  a land  area  equal  to  the  United  States  but  only  one-twelfth  the 
population,  hence  the  former  offers  inducements  to  acceptable  immi- 
grants to  go  on  the  land,  the  latter  none. 

Canada  encourages  immigration,  the  United  States  discourages  it. 
Canada  in  the  year  1912  sent  out  three  and  a quarter  million  pamphlets 
and  three-fourths  of  a million  newspapers  in  seven  different  languages, 
advertising  the  possibilities  of  the  country  to  men  seeking  economic 
improvement;  America  sent  out  nothing,  but  forbids  the  steamship  com- 
panies in  quest  of  trade  from  advertising  any  attractions  in  the  United 
States  for  immigrants.  In  addition  to  the  numerous  ticket  agents, 
Canada  has  a dozen  or  more  men  in  the  northwestern  countries  of 
Europe  whose  chief  business  it  is  to  promote  immigration;  every  year 
another  twenty  or  thirty  men  are  sent  to  England,  France  and  Germany 
to  lecture  and  give  personal  interviews  to  men  looking  for  a better 
country.  A corps  of  men,  numbering  as  many,  is  carrying  on  a cam- 
paign of  publicity  in  the  United  States.  America  also  has  representa- 
tives in  Europe,  not  to  promote  immigration,  but  rather  to  check  it;  and 
the  same  is  true  of  the  men  in  the  Dominion  guarding  the  highways  on 
land  and  water  between  the  two  countries.  Canada,  again,  gives  a bonus 
to  every  man  leaving  an  agricultural  life  in  the  homeland  and  going  on 
a farm  in  the  Dominion,  while  it  maintains  immigrant  halls  in  more 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  7 


than  forty  points,  where  immigrants  can  find  shelter  until  they  are 
settled.  In  these  halls  information  and  labor  bureaus  are  conducted; 
men  needing  labor  communicate  with  the  men  in  charge  of  these  halls 
and  thus  the  man  who  needs  work  and  the  one  who  needs  labor  are 
brought  together.  Last  year  17,716  applications  were  received  for  help 
and  the  bureaus  placed  11,189  men.  The  United  States  government  has 
a department  of  information,  but  with  an  immigration  nearly  four  times 
that  of  Canada,  this  department  has  not  succeeded  in  placing  one-half 
the  number  of  men  above  placed;  America  has  no  immigrant  halls  where 
the  immigrants  may  be  sheltered  while  looking  for  a place  to  settle. 
Canada  has  no  contract  labor  law,  the  United  States  has  such  and  it 
enforces  it  rigidly. 

The  physical  examination  conducted  in  both  countries  is  much  the 
same,  but  in  Canada  consideration  is  shown  to  a British  subject,  for  he 
is  one  of  the  family;  while  the  attitude  of  the  United  States  government 
knows  no  respect  of  person.  The  number  of  deported  in  America  in 
recent  years  has  been  about  2 per  cent  of  the  total  admitted;  in  Canada, 
the  deported  is  less  than  8-100  of  one  per  cent. 

The  Dominion  has  also  imposed  a head  tax  of  $500  upon  all  Chinese 
entering  the  country,  the  United  States  has  closed  the  door  against  them. 


2.  Volunteer  Service. 

(a)  Religious  Organizations. 

In  all  the  ports  of  North  America,  where  immigrants  land  in  any 
considerable  numbers,  Protestant,  Catholic,  and  Jewish  organizations 
have  their  representatives  who  serve  the  immigrants. 

Twenty-eight  passes  are  issued  by  the  Commissioner  of  Immigra- 
tion in  New  York  to  missionaries  doing  work  on  Ellis  Island.  The 
denominations  represented  are:  Baptist,  Presbyterian,  Congregational, 

Methodist,  Episcopalian,  Swedish  Lutheran,  Danish  Reformed,  the  St. 
Raphael  Society,  the  Society  of  St.  Mary,  the  St.  Stanislaus  Home,  the 
German  Lutherans,  the  Hebrew  Sheltering  and  Immigrant  Aid  Society, 
the  Russian  Orthodox  Church,  the  Bible  Society,  and  the  Religious  Tract 
Society,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  etc.  In  addition  to  these, 
42  passes  are  issued  by  the  Surveyor  of  the  Docks  in  New  York  City  to 
religious  and  immigrant  societies.  Many  organizations  work  along 
denominational  and  racial  lines  and  only  meet  ships  which  bring  people 
of  their  faith  or  race;  others  meet  all  ships  and  work  among  all  immi- 
grants regardless  of  creed  or  race.  The  missionaries  are  appealed  to  by 
the  detained.  They  help  the  applicants  to  make  appeals,  consult  the 
dockets  of  the  board  of  special  inquiry  in  cases  of  merit,  file  papers  for 
a re-hearing,  and,  by  communicating  with  friends  and  relatives,  are 
often  able  to  submit  new  evidence  in  favor  of  the  immigrant.  Those 
who  have  no  hope  save  deportation  they  comfort,  clothe,  and  give  some 
momentoes,  which  in  many  cases  assuage  the  edge  of  disappointment. 

The  missionaries  also  serve  the  temporarily  detained  by  communi- 
cating with  their  friends,  securing  money  or  affidavits,  helping  them  to 
locate  friends,  to  find  shelter  and  work.  They  also  comfort  mothers 
patiently  waiting  for  the  release  of  a child  from  the  hospital  or  take  a 
young  bride  and  her  future  husband  to  be  married,  they  safeguard 
young  women  who  have  no  friends,  and  communicate  with  the  husbands 
of  detained  wives,  connect  children  with  their  parents,  and  patiently 
unravel  innumerable  difficulties  which  beset  the  paths  of  ignorant  and 
innocent  immigrants. 

The  missionaries  also  render  service  to  patients  in  the  hospital. 
Between  8,000  and  10,000  are  annually  treated  in  the  Ellis  Island  hos- 


8 Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


pital.  The  missionaries  write  letters  to  their  friends  and  relatives,  com- 
fort them  in  suffering,  give  hope  and  encouragement  to  the  despondent, 
and  bear  words  of  comfort  to  the  relatives  patiently  waiting  on  the 
Island.  They  also  take  flowers,  fruit,  books  and  other  reading  matter 
to  the  patients,  they  furnish  toys  and  pictures  to  the  children,  and  many 
leaving  the  hospital  are  clothed  anew  in  garments  furnished  by  these 
Christian  workers. 

The  missionaries  also  take  immigrants  to  trains  or  to  their  friends, 
they  find  them  reliable  boarding  houses  and  employment  and  introduce 
them  to  trustworthy  people;  they  look  after  their  baggage,  counsel  them 
as  to  living  conditions,  customs  and  laws,  advise  them  as  to  the  best 
place  to  learn  the  English  language,  and  help  them  to  adjust  their  lives 
to  a new  country.  No  adequate  description  of  the  good  service  rendered 
immigrants  by  missionaries  of  all  denominations  and  creeds  can  be  given; 
in  order  to  know  this  patient  and  self-denying  work  in  all  its  phases  it 
is  necessary  to  follow  the  twenty-eight  missionaries  in  the  multifarious 
activities  day  and  night,  in  season  and  out  of  season.  None  save  the 
eye  of  the  Lord  can  see  the  blessed  result  of  this  work. 

Ministrations  similar  in  character  to  the  above  are  carried  on  in 
almost  every  port  and  port  city  in  North  America.  In  Galveston,  and 
Baltimore,  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  St.  John  and  Halifax,  Quebec  and 
Montreal,  Vancouver  and  San  Francisco,  the  various  religious  bodies 
have  from  forty  to  forty-five  persons  who  meet  ships  and  minister  to 
the  immigrants.  Some  of  these  have  homes  where  men  and  women 
may  be  sheltered  over  night.  No  accurate  information  of  the  amount 
annually  spent  in  work  is  available.  The  sum  spent  each  year  in  five 
of  these  ports  amounts  to  $91,000. 

To  this  record  must  be  added  the  inland  mission  stations  and  churches 
which  render  invaluable  service  to  immigrants.  The  four  denomina- 
tions, the  Baptists,  Methodist  Episcopal,  the  Presbyterians  and  the  Con- 
gregationalists,  have  about  4,000  missionaries  working  among  twenty-six 
different  foreign-speaking  peoples  in  the  United  States,  spend  annually 
nearly  $2,000,000  in  the  work,  and  have  more  than  3,000  mission  stations 
and  churches,  with  a membership  of  more  than  160,000.  Many  mission- 
aries, in  addition  to  preaching  the  Word,  conduct  schools  to  teach  the 
English  language,  help  prospective  citizens  to  secure  their  naturaliza- 
tion papers,  conduct  labor  bureaus,  furnish  information,  protect  immi- 
grants coming  to  their  city,  and  counsel  them  in  times  of  trouble. 

(b)  Philanthropic  Organizations. 

Many  national  organizations  among  the  foreign-born  have  represen- 
tatives at  ports  of  landing,  such  as  the  Italian  Society  for  Immigrants, 
the  Polish  National  Alliance,  the  Italia-Gens  for  Immigrants,  the  Bul- 
garian Society,  the  National  Slavonic  Immigration  Society,  the  Ger- 
man Immigrant  Society,  National  Immigration  League,  Home  of  Scan- 
dinavian Immigrants,  Irish  Immigrant  Home,  Armenian  Colonial  Asso- 
ciation, Norwegian  Home,  etc.;  then  we  have  societies  such  as  the 
Holland  Benevolent  Society,  the  Japanese  Mutual  Aid  Society,  the  St. 
George  Society,  St.  Andrew  Society,  Spanish  Protective  Society,  Syrian 
Society,  Armenian  Union  of  America,  French  Society,  etc.,  which  minis- 
ter to  the  needs  of  immigrants,  although  their  prime  purpose  is  not  to 
aid  and  protect  them.  The  largest  work  done  by  these  organizations  is 
in  New  York  City.  The  Commissioner  of  Immigration  on  Ellis  Island 
issues  34  passes  to  immigrant  and  philanthropic  organizations,  and  the 
Surveyor  of  the  Port,  54.  The  Italian  Home,  Casa  dgl’  Italiana,  129 
Broad  Street;  the  home  of  National  Polish  Alliance,  at  180  Second  Ave- 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  9 


nue;  the  Swedish  and  Norwegian  homes,  etc.,  are  well  equipped.  These 
sheltering  stations  find  employment  as  well  as  give  food  and  lodging 
every  year  to  tens  of  thousands  of  immigrants. 

The  National  Slavonic  Society  is  doing  a similar  work  for  Slavs  of 
all  branches  as  well  as  for  Lithuanians.  The  Labor  Bureaus  of  the 
Spanish  and  German,  the  French  and  the  Dutch  societies,  help  hundreds 
of  immigrants  every  month,  so  that  the  hardships  incident  to  entering  a 
new  country  are  largely  mitigated. 

Another  form  of  organization  to  help  immigrants  is  represented  by 
the  North  American  Civic  League  for  Immigrants,  the  Immigration 
League  of  Chicago,  the  National  Jewish  Council  for  Immigrants, 
National  Conference  of  Immigration,  Land  and  Labor  officials,  etc. 
These  agencies  protect  the  immigrants  as  they  land,  help  them  to  their 
destination,  connect  them  with  educational  agencies,  attempt  to  effect  a 
better  distribution,  and  aid  in  the  process  of  assimilation. 

(c)  Settlements. 

Other  potent  agencies  helping  the  foreign-speaking  peoples  to  adjust 
their  lives  to  America  are  the  social  settlements  and  kindred  organiza- 
tions. No  social  settlement,  doing  work  for  white  people  within  the 
immigration  zone,  may  be  found  which  does  not  touch  the  foreign- 
speaking  and  their  children.  This  type  of  service  is  hardly  in  its  ma- 
jority, and  yet  it  has  developed  most  markedly  in  America.  It  may  be 
said  to  be  synchronous  in  its  growth  with  the  onrush  of  foreign-speaking 
people  from  southeastern  Europe  to  America  and  may  be  regarded  as  a 
movement  to  combat  conditions  precipitated  by  immigration  in  indus- 
trial centers.  With  a small  beginning  of  less  than  half  a dozen  centers 
in  1891,  they  multiplied  to  more  than  350  in  1912;  the  resident  paid 
workers  number  1,569  (78  per  cent  are  female  and  22  male),  and  an  army 
of  7-375  volunteer  workers  (77.2  per  cent  of  whom  are  female  and  22.8, 
male).  Of  the  paid  workers,  about  85  per  cent  serve  the  foreign- 
speaking and  their  children.  The  aim  of  the  settlement  movement  may 
be  best  set  forth  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  first  and  most  earnest  work- 
ers, R.  A.  Woods:  “Our  settlement  has  for  its  aim  to  bring  about  a 
better  and  more  beautiful  life  in  its  neighborhood  and  district;  to 
develop  through  study  and  action  in  this  single  locality  new  ways  of 
meeting  some  of  the  serious  problems  of  society,  such  as  may  be  applied 
in  other  places;  and  to  draw  into  this  effort  the  finest  available  powers 
of  heart  and  mind  ....  (it)  is  a center  of  personal  forces  which 
become  involved  with  the  interests  of  the  neighborhood  without,  and 
spread  themselves  through  every  healthful  channel  of  the  local  life.”  A 
catalogue  of  activities  of  one  of  the  leading  settlements  shows  the  wide 
scope  of  their  work.  They  look  after  housing,  streets,  sanitation,  play- 
grounds, public  baths,  public  education,  public  health,  law  and  order, 
labor,  civics,  charity,  public  discussion,  art  work,  public  lectures,  etc. 

(d)  Local  Committees. 

Besides  these  various  organizations  there  are  local  committees  organ- 
ized in  towns  where  the  foreign-speaking  are  in  large  numbers  to  do 
work  for  the  aliens.  The  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution are  active  in  promoting  work  for  immigrants,  while  in  some 
instances  groups  of  young  people  combine  to  carry  on  work  among  the 
foreign-speaking  in  their  city.  Legal  aid  societies  are  also  found  in 
many  cities  which  serve  the  immigrants.  The  one  in  New  York  City 
served  33,809  persons  last  year,  of  whom  61.3  per  cent  were  foreign- 
born. 

Government  regulations,  missionary  and  philanthropic  agencies, 


10  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


immigrant  national  societies,  settlements,  independent  organizations,  are 
rendering  a splendid  service  to  immigrants,  but  before  the  needs  of  all 
immigrants  in  North  America  are  met  these  agencies  must  be  multiplied 
a thousandfold. 


IV.  ASSOCIATION  ACTIVITIES. 


The  Association  in  North  America  has  always  been  interested  in 
immigrants.  The  Canadian  Associations  have  from  their  inception  ren- 
dered services  to  English-speaking  immigrants  to  the  Dominion  and  in 
recent  years  they  have  broadened  their  work  to  include  men  of  other 
nationalities.  The  Associations  in  the  United  States,  in  the  last  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  did  considerable  work  among  Germans, 
French  and  Scandinavians;  but  in  the  last  decade,  the  sympathies  of 
those  Associations,  face  to  face  with  the  immigration  problems,  have 
deepened  and  broadened,  so  that  representatives  of  forty-six  different 
peoples  are  under  business,  social  and  religious  influences  which  mate- 
rially aid  them. 


i.  European  Port  Work. 

The  Association  in  North  America  had  not  gone  far  in  work  for 
foreign-speaking  immigrants  before  the  world-wide  sweep  of  the  ques- 
tion impressed  the  men  in  charge.  During  the  Triennial  Convention  at 
Washington,  D.  C.,  in  1907,  representatives  of  the  World’s  Committee 
sat  in  council  with  members  of  the  Immigration  Advisory  Committee, 
composed  of  members  from  Canada  and  the  United  States,  to  discuss 
the  advantage  of  a world-wide  policy  touching  immigration.  The  con- 
ference resulted  in  work  being  undertaken  in  European  ports  of  em- 
barkation, which  has  since  developed  to  its  present  dimensions.  The 
following  ports  are  now  manned: 

Liverpool  Le  Havre  Rotterdam 

Southampton  Hango  Naples 

Bristol  Libau  Gothenburg 

Glasgow  Antwerp  Copenhagen 

Hamburg 


Thirteen  men  give  all  or  part  time  to  this  work  among  emigrants  in 
these  European  ports  and  the  efficiency  of  their  work  may  be  illustrated 
by  one  of  many  examples.  Mrs.  Ohannesian,  Armenian,  with  three 
small  children  was  on  her  way  to  Fresno,  California.  Mr.  Scott,  port 
secretary  in  Liverpool,  met  her  and  found  out  that  she  had  no  money. 
The  day  she  sailed  the  secretary  sent  a cablegram  to  her  husband  in 
Fresno  to  send  $150  to  Mr.  Getty,  port  secretary  at  Philadelphia.  The 
money  was  sent,  and  when  the  mother  arrived  in  Philadelphia  she  was 
handed  the  money.  This  enabled  her  and  her  children  to  land  and  pro- 
ceed immediately  on  the  journey.  The  secretary  appeared  in  her  behalf 
before  the  Board  of  Special  Inquiry,  helped  her  with  her  baggage  and 
ticket,  saw  her  on  the  train,  and  when  they  were  leaving,  the  eldest 
boy,  16  years  of  age,  appreciating  the  service  rendered  them,  clung  to 
the  secretary,  kissed  his  hand,  and  in  his  mother  tongue  thanked  him 
for  what  he  had  done. 


2.  Steerage  Work. 

Twenty  experimental  trips  have  been  made  in  the  steerage  by  men 
doing  welfare  work  among  immigrants;  these  prove  the  need  of  workers 
specially  assigned  to  ships  crossing,  the  ocean,  to  render  service  to  steer- 
age passengers.  Progress  is  being  marked  in  this  direction,  for  the  head 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  a?id  the  Immigrant  11 


of  one  of  the  steamship  companies,  having  read  the  report  of  service 
rendered  by  the  worker  who  crossed  the  ocean  with  immigrants  last 
summer,  has  asked  for  some  experimental  work  on  board  its  ships. 

3.  North  American  Port  Work. 

Working  in  harmony  with  the  secretaries  in  European  ports  are 
twelve  men  rendering  service  in  the  following  ports  of  landing  in  North 
America: 


The  services  rendered  immigrants  by  these  men  are  similar  to  those 
rendered  by  the  Travelers’  Aid  Society  and  kindred  organizations. 

An  example  of  the  service  rendered  by  these  agents  will  not  be  out 
of  place.  A party  of  Syrians  landed  late  in  the  afternoon  from  the  ship 
in  Quebec.  They  carried  a draft  but  no  money.  The  secretary,  W.  W. 
Lee,  saw  their  difficulty,  but  could  not  get  the  draft  cashed,  for  the  bank 
was  closed.  They  made  signs  of  hunger,  so  he  took  them  to  one  of  the 
officials,  who  advanced  some  money  on  the  draft,  so  that  they  were  able 
to  purchase  food.  The  men  were  so  grateful  that  they  took  Mr.  Lee 
into  the  restaurant  and  offered  to  pay  for  whatever  he  wanted.  H.  B. 
Stevens,  working  on  the  New  York  docks,  found  a young  man  who  had 
paid  his  fare  to  Chicago,  while  he  held  an  order  for  the  ticket.  By  his 
intervention  the  money  was  refunded  the  young  man.  The  efficiency  of 
the  co-operation  between  European  and  North  American  secretaries  is 
best  verified  by  the  fact  that  45  per  cent  of  the  men  touched  by  the  Euro- 
pean secretaries  last  February  were  served  by  the  three  secretaries  at 
Ellis  Island. 


4.  Points  of  Distribution. 

The  Association  has  also  done  some  experimental  work  at  points  of 
distribution.  The  railroad  and  city  associations  of  Scranton  made  such 
an  experiment  and  clearly  showed  the  need  of  reliable  and  sympathetic 
men  meeting  the  immigrant  trains  and  helping  the  men  to  conveyances 
to  reach  their  destination.  The  same  need  was  found  by  experiments 
conducted  in  Buffalo,  Pittsburgh  and  St.  Louis.  The  only  place  where 
the  Association  is  doing  a worthwhile  piece  of  such  work  is  in  Chicago. 
Richard  D.  La  Guardia  is  the  present  secretary  and  his  report  for  the 
first  two  months  of  the  year  is  as  follows:  “During  the  month  of  Jan- 
uary and  February,  8,971  immigrants,  mostly  from  southeastern  Europe, 
were  met  at  the  depots.  We  rendered  valuable  service  to  783  men  from 
whom  repeated  thanks  were  received.  Thirty  per  cent  of  the  arriving 
immigrants  here  had  Association  cards  either  from  Europe  or  American 
ports.  Five  per  cent  of  the  men  came  to  us  when  they  saw  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  cap.  One  young  German,  who  had  been  helped  six  times  by  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  from  the  time  he  left  his  homeland  until  he  arrived  in  Chi- 
cago, expressed  himself  thus:  “The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 
is  the  world’s  widest  and  safest  chain  without  a missing  link.”  The 
Ottawa  association  has  assigned  its  “senior  caretaker”  to  meet  the  trains 
from  Halifax,  St.  John  and  Quebec,  wffiich  stop-over  for  three  or  four 
hours  before  they  move  on  to  the  West.  The  secretary  says  “it  presents 
a splendid  opportunity  for  Christian  work  as  well  as  the  general  giving 
of  information  and  friendly  advice.” 


Baltimore 
Philadelphia 
New  York 
Boston 


St.  John 
Halifax 
Quebec 


Providence 


12  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


5.  Inland  Work. 

The  work  done  by  the  Associations  of  North  America  in  cities  where 
immigrants  settle  in  large  numbers  has  developed  remarkably  in  the 
last  six  years.  Twenty-five  secretaries  giving  all  their  time  to  work  for 
foreigners  is  a result  of  this  special  effort.  The  variety  of  service  ren- 
dered is  great;  the  following  lines  of  service  stand  out  distinctly  in  the 
activity  of  these  men. 

(a)  Follow-up  Work.  In  Associations  where  a broad  work  is  being 
done,  Cosmopolitan  or  New  American  committees  are  organized  to  do 
follow-up  work.  Immigrants,  touched  by  the  secretaries  at  ports  of 
embarkation  and  landing,  are  given  cards  of  introduction  to  secretaries 
inland.  Men  who  present  their  cards  are  assisted  in  finding  work,  board 
and  lodging.  The  secretary  of  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  writes  this  month: 
“Kattenbusch  came  to  the  Association  after  a three  days’  trip  from  Ellis 
Island.  We  gave  him  a room  in  the  dormitory,  secured  him  a position 
and  entered  him  in  our  class  in  English  for  Coming  Americans.”  Most 
of  the  foreign-speaking  immigrants  will  not  present  their  cards,  hence 
the  immigration  worker  organizes  his  cosmopolitan  committee  to 
follow-up  the  men  whose  names  are  sent  him  by  port  secretaries.  The 
members  of  the  committee  are  those  who  have  been  helped  by  the  Asso- 
ciation and  who  have  caught  the  vision  of  possible  service  to  their 
fellow-countrymen.  Mr.  Love,  secretary  at  Butler,  Pa.,  followed  up  the 
names  of  two  foreign-speaking  men  sent  him  and  came  in  touch  with 
seventeen  others  of  the  same  nationality,  who  were  organized  into  a 
class  to  study  our  language.  Mr.  Bowers,  immigration  secretary  for 
Chicago,  writes:  “We  would  have  but  a meagre  basis  for  doing  our 
work  in  Chicago  if  it  were  not  for  the  names  and  addresses  sent  to  us 
from  the  port  secretaries.  We  are  able  to  render  service  to  hundreds  of 
men  and  probably  to  thousands  through  these  addresses  sent  to  us,  that 
we  could  never  have  reached  otherwise.”  A Magyar,  who  had  been 
helped  by  the  Association,  framed  his  card  and  wrote  under  it  in  his 
mother  tongue:  “Trust  thee  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  it  is  your  only  friend.” 

(b)  The  Teaching  of  English.  This  meets  one  of  the  most  felt 
needs  of  immigrants.  In  connection  with  this  work,  the  Association  has 
developed  three  courses  of  instruction  which  are  used  in  classes  where 
immigrants  are  taught  our  language.  Last  year  218  associations  in 
North  America  conducted  classes  in  English,  1,179  teachers  were  em- 
ployed, 973  classes  were  formed,  and  the  men  studying  numbered  16,927. 
During  the  six  years  in  which  special  attention  to  this  line  of  work  has 
been  given,  tens  of  thousands  of  men  have  been  helped  to  a knowledge 
of  the  English  language.  The  following  is  the  testimony  of  one  of 
these  young  men  who  began  work  for  $4  a week:  “I  went  to  the  Y.  M. 
C.  A.  and  learnt  to  talk,  read  and  write  English.  Then  I looked  for  a 
better  job.  My  pay  now  is  $15  a week  and  nine  hours’  work.  I then 
began  to  live  better.  I have  a room  for  myself,  good  clothes,  I am 
living  like  a man  and  I have  a chance  to  take  care  of  myself,  same  as 
any  honest  American.  I am  thankful  thousands  and  thousands  of  times 
to  Y.  M.  C.  A.”  Some  associations  have  had  striking  instances  of  young 
men  taking  their  first  lesson  in  English  in  the  classes  they  organized 
who  are  to-day  in  colleges  or  are  in  the  professions.  The  centers  or- 
ganized are  arenas  where  the  fittest  and  brightest  of  foreign-speaking 
men  are  discovered  and  helped  to  come  to  their  own  in  this  land  of 
opportunity.  Special  lessons  on  the  industries  have  been  prepared  by 
the  Scranton  association,  that  of  Chicago  and  by  the  State  Committee  of 
New  England. 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  13 


(c)  Naturalization.  The  Association  is  also  specializing  in  helping 
immigrants  to  get  their  naturalization  papers.  This  work  has  been  done 
for  the  last  five  years  in  conjunction  with  English  classes,  but  the  num- 
ber of  men  who  have  failed  to  pass  the  final  examination,  or  who  dread 
it,  is  so  large  that  a special  effort  is  now  made  to  help  these  men  to  pre- 
pare for  this  final  test.  A special  booklet  on  Civics  was  put  out  last  fall 
to  meet  this  need,  and  hundreds  of  men  are  being  prepared  by  special 
training  to  pass  the  required  examination. 

(d)  Lectures.  Special  lectures  are  also  given  the  foreign-speaking 

upon  a variety  of  subjects,  such  as  the  United  States,  Canada,  heroes  and 
leaders  in  national  life,  the  institutions  of  the  country,  its  form  of  gov- 
ernment, the  ordinances  of  the  city,  the  laws  of  the  state,  the  industries, 
community  sanitation,  personal  hygiene,  the  homeland,  etc.  One  of  the 
Associations  developing  this  work  writes:  “Last  winter  more  than 

25,000  men  were  reached  by  lectures  of  this  character,”  and  this  year 
Dr.  G.  W.  Tupper,  immigration  secretary  for  the  states  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Rhode  Island  reports  that  no  fewer  than  30,000  were  in 
lectures  for  the  past  winter  months. 

(e)  Fellowship.  Community  meetings  are  also  promoted  by  the 
Association  in  which  men  of  all  races  in  the  city  come  together  to  sing 
their  national  anthems,  and  enjoy  Christian  fellowship.  These  men  are 
made  to  feel  that  they  are  members  of  the  same  community,  having  com- 
mon interests  and  should  co-operate  for  the  welfare  of  their  city.  In 
these  meetings,  representative  men  of  native  birth  meet  the  immigrants, 
exchange  courtesies  with  them  and  make  them  feel  that  they  are  a part 
of  the  life  of  the  city.  Last  Lincoln’s  birthday  the  Association  in  San 
Francisco  brought  together  a thousand  such  men  representing  sixteen 
nationalities. 

(f)  Co-operation.  The  Association  has  co-operated  with  other 
agencies  doing  work  for  immigrants.  Some  Associations  have  by  re- 
quest of  school  authorities  turned  over  their  work  to  the  Public  School, 
others  are  co-operating  with  the  school  directors  by  furnishing  teachers, 
a system,  and  looking  up  the  pupils.  It  has  co-operated  with  missions 
and  churches  of  both  Catholic  and  Protestant  followings,  with  Jews  and 
Mohammedans,  with  Maronites  and  Georgians — religious  organizations 
of  all  creeds  willing  to  open  their  doors  for  educational  work  for  their 
constituency  have  found  the  Association  willing  to  co-operate  in  the 
enterprise.  It  has  co-operated  with  settlements,  clubs,  societies,  educa- 
tional groups,  libraries,  reading  circles,  the  D.  A.  R.  and  S.  A.  R.,  with 
boards  of  health,  with  health  leagues,  with  first  aid  organizations,  etc. 
It  has  also  promoted  conferences  of  immigration  workers,  such  as  bring- 
ing all  of  the  agents  on  Ellis  Island  together  to  a dinner  for  fellowship 
and  an  exchange  of  ideas.  Conferences  have  also  been  held,  such  as  that 
at  Tacoma,  Wash.,  in  1912  and  the  one  this  year  in  San  Francisco,  Cali- 
fornia, under  association  auspices,  when  all  agents  interested  in  immi- 
grants were  brought  together  for  counsel  and  discussion;  other  con- 
ferences have  been  held  in  New  York,  Toronto  and  Cincinnati,  to  which 
are  invited  organizations  and  individuals  interested  in  the  immigration 
question  for  the  purpose  of  discussion  and  co-operation.  Its  plan  is  to 
co-operate  with  all  agencies  doing  work  for  immigrants  in  order  to  de- 
velop the  most  effective  means  possible  for  the  protection  and  guidance 
of  these  men. 

(gl  Employment.  Most  of  the  Associations  doing  work  for  im- 
migrants, assist  them  to  find  employment.  Every  Association  having  an 


14  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


employment  department  puts  it  at  the  service  of  the  immigrant  when 
he  applies  for  help  to  find  work,  and  in  reports  daily  received  from 
inland  Associations,  mention  is  constantly  made  of  employment  being 
found  for  immigrants.  Last  month  Chicago  reports  having  found 
employment  for  twenty-one  men.  In  the  bulletin  of  services  rendered 
newcomers  for  this  month,  Attleboro,  Mass.,  reports,  “found  positions 
for  three;”  New  Bedford,  “three  Englishmen  found  and  helped  to  posi- 
tions;” San  Francisco,  “two  German  boys  helped  to  positions;”  and 
Pittsburgh  found  employment  for  six  men. 

6.  The  Industrial  Service  Movement. 

The  Association  has  enlisted  college  men,  especially  engineering 
students,  in  volunteer  service  for  foreign-speaking  workers  in  cities  where 
the  colleges  are  located.  More  than  1,500  of  these  students  are  doing 
work  for  these  immigrants  and  are  finding  in  it  a rich  experience  by  com- 
ing into  personal  touch  with  these  men.  Hundreds  of  them,  who  became 
interested  in  the  foreigner  while  in  college,  are  now  promoting  welfare 
work  for  aliens  in  the  places  they  are  employed.  Many  of  the  men  who 
taught  a class  of  foreigners  are  now  engineers,  filling  positions  of  re- 
sponsibility, and  improving  the  working  and  living  conditions  of  foreign- 
born  men  under  their  charge.  A young  engineer,  who  during  his  col- 
lege career  had  rendered  valuable  service  as  a volunteer,  this  week  ex- 
pressed a desire  to  get  back  into  the  work  and  serve  his  fellowmen  in 
a definite  way. 

7.  Literature. 

The  Association  issues  literature  for  the  information  of  the  immi- 
grant and  for  the  promotion  of  the  work  among  the  Associations  and 
the  country  at  large.  In  Europe  cards  of  introduction  are  printed  in  32 
different  tongues  and  distributed  among  men  who  wish  them.  Pam- 
phlets and  pieces  of  literature  are  also  distributed  in  French,  German 
Polish  and  English.  In  the  port  of  New  York,  an  explanation  of  the 
work  of  the  Association  is  printed  in  nine  different  tongues,  while  guides 
explaining  the  coins  of  the  country,  giving  friendly  advice,  etc.,  are  dis- 
tributed in  German,  Italian,  English,  Swedish  and  Danish.  For  the  pro- 
motion of  the  work  among  the  English  speaking,  pamphlets  are  con- 
stantly issued,  descriptive  of  the  need  of  the  immigrants,  the  work  done 
by  the  Associations,  and  the  best  methods  to  pursue  to  secure  efficiency. 
In  addition  to  this  the  Association  Press  has  issued  three  courses  of 
instruction  in  “English  for  Coming  Americans,”  a hand-book  for  teach- 
ers, an  ethnological  study  of  “Immigrant  Races  to  North  America”; 
“Civics  for  Coming  Americans”;  “English  for  Coming  Canadians”;  and 
two  readers  for  Coming  Canadians,  “Winning  Qualities”,  and  “The 
Makers  of  Canada.” 

8.  Experimental  Work. 

(a)  Instructing  Teachers. 

The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  College,  Springfield,  carried 
on  special  work  among  its  students  so  as  to  prepare  them  to  do  better 
work  among  foreign-speaking  men.  The  following  is  the  course 
proposed: 

1.  Immigration:  Causes,  Sources,  Extent,  Destination,  etc. 

2.  The  Immigrant:  Nationality,  Health,  Religion,  Recreation, 

Morals,  etc. 

3.  Education:  Methods  of  Teaching  English,  Civics,  History,  etc. 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  15 


The  students  also  rendered  real  service  to  immigrants  in  ten  differ- 
ent centers  in  the  city,  in  which  250  men  were  enrolled  in  classes;  thirty 
of  the  young  men  volunteered  their  services,  and  those  doing  the  teach- 
ing have  been  organized  into  a “foreign  faculty”  group,  which  meets 
every  two  weeks  a number  of  the  college  faculty,  when  the  work  is 
reviewed,  problems  discussed,  and  methods  revised.  R.  L.  Cheney,  the 
secretary  of  the  factulty,  writes:  “These  students  have  rendered  a very 

consequential  service,  but  have  in  turn  received  great  inspiration  from 
the  work  which  they  have  been  doing.” 

(b)  Making  Citizens.  A special  work  has  been  done  by  the  Cleve- 
land Association  in  Naturalization,  under  the  leadership  of  R.  E.  Cole. 
By  special  arrangement  with  Ladd  Krejci,  clerk  of  the  naturalization 
court,  250  aliens  secured  their  first  papers  at  a saving  of  $500  to  the  men 
The  plan  is  to  bring  the  applicants  together,  secure  a speaker  of  some 
prominence  to  address  them  on  the  question  of  citizenship,  and  then  the 
clerk  issues  first  papers  to  all  who  declare  their  intention  of  becoming 
citizens.  In  this  way,  the  men  lose  no  time  by  going  to  the  court  house, 
and  they  are  brought  in  contact  with  an  agency  that  will  help  them  to 
secure  the  second  paper.  The  court  will  also  hold  night  sessions,  for  the 
granting  of  second  papers,  once  a month,  and  the  men  in  training  in  the 
Association  for  the  final  examination  will  take  their  examination  in  the 
evening,  and  thus  save  themselves  and  their  witnesses  the  loss  of  a day’s 
work.  An  excellent  experiment  has  also  been  carried  on  in  Duluth, 
where  from  forty-five  to  sixty  men  have  met  every  Saturday  noon  in 
the  carpenter  shop  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company  to  receive 
instruction  in  citizenship  based  on  “Civics  for  Coming  Americans.” 

(c)  Follow-up  Work.  Experiments  in  follow-up  work  have  beer, 
done  in  Pittsburgh  by  Alexander  Esplin.  He  says  “most  of  the  ad- 
dresses sent  us  are  in  care  of  banks,  saloons  and  small  stores,  and  the 
proprietors  claim  to  know  nothing  more  of  them,  than  that  they  have  been 
receiving  mail  for  them,”  and  the  conclusion  he  comes  to  is  “the  only 
adequate  way  is  to  get  in  touch  with  these  people  at  the  railway  stations 
rather  than  wait  until  they  have  scattered  and  then  try  to  get  in  touch 
with  them.”  He  concludes  by  saying  that  the  “work  is  worth  while.  The 
opporunities  we  have  had  for  helping  these  people  have  compensated  us 
for  all  disappointments.”  The  follow-up  and  depot  work  done  by 
Richrd  D.  La  Guardia  in  Chicago  is  highly  successful.  His  report  for 
March  states  that  he  helped  769  persons  at  the  depots,  and  in  the  ad- 
dresses followed  he  generally  locates  from  70  to  75  per  cent. 

(d)  Method  of  Co-operation.  The  Cambridge  Association  gave 

special  attention  to  the  co-operative  aspect  of  our  work  and  the  follow- 
ing lines  of  co-operation  are  specified  by  H.  M.  Gerry:  Co-operation 

with  individuals  among  foreigners  to  start  work,  carry  on  the  work  and 
look  up  persons  coming  from  Europe  to  the  city;  with  agencies  such  as 
factories  to  put  up  class  and  lecture  work,  gym  work,  employment, 
library,  and  benefit  association;  with  settlements,  to  conduct  classes  and 
lectures,  clubs  and  cooking  classes;  with  clubs  among  the  foreign-speak- 
ing to  conduct  classes  and  lectures,  socials  and  musicals;  with  Roman 
Catholic  and  mission  churches;  with  Public  Schools  in  arranging  for 
continuation  schools  after  the  night  schools  are  closed;  with  the  students 
of  Harvard  University  to  secure  teachers  and  social  workers;  with  the 
Christian  Endeavor  Union  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  musicals;  with 
benefit  fraternities  to  give  talks  at  regular  or  special  meetings;  with  the 
anti-tuberculosis  association  for  the  distribution  of  literature,  for  lec- 
tures, and  for  helping  in  case  work;  with  associated  charities  for  general 
information:  with  landlord  and  hospitals,  courts  and  housing  associa- 
tion, and  with  temperance  organizations. 


16  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


(e)  Cosmopolitan  Committee.  In  Lawrence,  Mass.,  an  interesting 
experiment  has  been  carried  on  in  a Cosmopolitan  Committee,  which 
represents  men  of  all  nationalities  in  the  city.  Secretary  C.  T.  Holm 
speaks  of  it  as  follows:  “These  men  increased  their  interest  in  and  gave 
force  to  activities  already  organized.  They  have  gripped  great  problems 
relating  to  the  foreign  people  of  Lawrence  and  have  planned  new  activi- 
ties in  a statesmanlike  manner.”  A Sunday  night  meeting  has  also  been 
successfully  carried  out  for  the  men,  “the  prime  purpose  of  which  is 
educational  and  inspirational  and  supplementary  to  the  school  work,  but 
it  is  also  realized  that  Sunday  night  is  the  one  day  in  the  week  when 
time  hangs  heavily  on  the  foreign-speaking  men,  and  he  needs  a good 
time.” 

(f)  Slides  on  Accidents.  In  Fall  River,  the  immigration  secretary, 
G.  F.  Quimby,  reports:  “Three  of  our  mill  superintendents  are  gather- 
ing material  for  a practical  series  of  lessons  and  lectures  on  prevention 
of  accidents  in  the  cotton  mill  industry.  Forty  slides,  showing  the  dif- 
ferent machines,  the  different  operation,  the  right  and  wrong  way  of 
operating  the  machines  and  the  dangers  to  avoid  are  prepared..  Every 
week  a few  more  pictures  are  taken.  These  slides  will  be  arranged 
progressively  and  lectures  will  be  prepared  to  bring  out  the  points  we 
wish  to  cover.  From  these  pictures  we  plan  to  work  up  a progressive 
series  of  English  lessons  which  will  give  the  foreigners  the  English 
which  they  can  use  in  the  mill.  Our  committee  is  very  enthusiastic  over 
this  work  and  the  possibilities  of  its  development.” 

(g)  Tent  Work.  In  Pittsburgh,  the  immigration  secretary,  H.  A. 

McConnaughey,  has  developed  the  lecture  feature  of  his  work  splen- 
didly. The  report  states:  “The  Industrial  Department  of  the  Pittsburgh 
Association  during  the  past  year  has  reached  approximately  110,000 
persons  in  our  foreign  communities  by  lectures  on  history,  civics  and 
health.  The  talks  were  illustrated,  two  lanterns  were  used — the  one 
showing  the  picture,  the  other  having  words  descriptive  of  the  slide 
which  the  children  could  read  and  interpret  to  the  older  people.  In  sev- 
eral of  our  summer  centers  audiences  from  1,000  to  1,400  were  a nightly 
occurrence.  Some  of  the  results  were  the  draining  of  stagnant  water 
from  a lot  near  the  tent  by  the  town  Department  of  Highways,  the  en- 
lightenment of  the  people  as  to  the  wisdom  of  city  sanitary  regulations, 
the  awakening  of  many  foreigners  to  the  knowledge  of  the  injurious 
effect  of  alcohol  upon  the  human  body,  the  cleaning  up  of  playgrounds 
by  boys,  the  planting  of  flowers  and  grass  and  appreciation  of  fresh 
air  and  the  warm  sun.  The  gratitude  of  the  foreign-speaking  was 
typified  by  a Polish  woman  who  came  to  the  secretary  after  an  even- 
ing’s program  and  said:  “Good  pictures,  good  talk,  me  happy.” 

(h)  Religious  Work.  Definite  religious  work  for  foreign-speaking 
men  has  been  done  by  the  Jamestown  Association.  Every  Sunday  even- 
ing, all  the  year  round,  from  twenty-five  to  thirty  Albanians  have  met  in 
the  Association  building  for  Bible  study  and  Gospel  talks.  The  outcome 
of  this  meeting  is  the  organiaztion  of  an  Albanian  Y.  M.  C.  A.  Leaders 
in  religious  work  have  been  trained  and  hundreds  of  lives  have  been 
reformed.  In  Saginaw,  Mich.,  ten  Italians  meet  regularly  for  Bible  study 
and  form  a nucleus  for  a religious  organization. 

V.  POSSIBILITIES. 

1.  In  Associations.  All  Associations  in  the  immigration  zone  are 
not  engaged  in  serving  the  foreign-speaking.  There  are  493  city  and 
railroad  associations  in  the  North  Atlantic  and  North  Central  States. 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  a?id  the  Immigrant  17 


Seventy-five  per  cent  of  these  are  city  associations,  and,  with  very  rare 
exception,  they  are  located  in  cities  where  the  aliens  are  located,  and  thus 
have  the  opportunity  to  do  work  for  them.  But  the  121  railroad  associa- 
tions are  also  favorably  located  for  work  of  this  character,  for  the  for- 
eign-speaking form  an  important  factor  in  the  force  employed  around  the 
round  house,  repair  shop  and  yard  gangs.  After  deducting  the  number 
of  Associations  located  in  communities  where  the  immigrants  are  not 
found  in  large  numbers,  we  find  that  less  than  50  per  cent  of  the  Asso- 
ciations face  to  face  with  the  problem  are  actively  engaged  in  work  for 
immigrants.  As  long  as  this  is  true,  we  cannot  claim  that  the  Associa- 
tions are  availing  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  help  men  of  foreign 
tongues  and  ideas  in  their  communities.  The  needs  of  the  foreigners, 
as  far  as  knowledge  of  the  English  tongue  and  naturalization  are  con- 
cerned, are  as  great  to-day,  if  not  greater,  than  ever  before,  and  the 
Associations  are  neglecting  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  to  be  of 
service  to  men  who  most  need  their  help  by  vneglecting  to  go  to  the  aid 
of  the  immigrant,  who  so  often  falls  among  tlTieves  and  lies  bruised  and 
sore,  naked  and  lonesome,  in  our  cities. 

2.  In  Lectures.  The  lecture,  accompanied  either  by  stereopticon 
slides  or  moving  pictures,  has  rendered  excellent  service  to  foreign- 
speaking men,  but  the  possibilities  of  this  means  of  education  can  be  de- 
veloped much  more  widely.  The  one  great  objective  is  to  give  the  child 
of  backward  and  impoverished  countries  an  idea  of  the  opportunities  of 
North  America,  of  the  price  paid  in  the  development  of  this  part  of  the 
earth  and  the  sacrifices  necessary  in  order  to  bring  about  the  civilization 
we  enjoy;  the  benefits  they  enjoy  when  they  come  to  a well-regulated 
and  industrially  developed  country;  the  privileges  which  are  theirs  and 
their  children’s;  the  importance  of  knowing  the  city  ordinances  and  the 
laws  which  touch  their  daily  welfare  and  happiness;  the  observance  of 
personal  hygiene  and  their  contribution  to  social  sanitation,  etc.  These 
are  topics  that  can  be  illustrated  and  made  interesting  as  well  as  edify- 
ing to  the  foreigners,  but  it  requires  the  investment  of  brain  and  money, 
which  thus  far  have  not  been  commensurate  to  the  need.  Thirty  or 
forty  such  stereopticon  lectures  or  films  are  needed  in  the  United  States 
and  at  least  eight  sets  of  each,  so  that  one  set  could  be  placed  at  the 
service  of  each  of  the  seven  states  where  the  immigration  problem  is 
acute,  and  the  other  set  be  left  in  the  International  office  for  service  in 
the  centers  outside  those  seven  states  where  immigrants  settle. 

3.  In  Follow-up  Work.  The  follow-up  work  is  not  supported  by 
the  Associations  as  we  believe  it  should  be.  The  foreign-speaking  men 
are  shy  and  suspicious.  They  will  not  come  to  the  Association  for  coun- 
sel, but  an  earnest  effort  to  find  the  newly  arrived  immigrant  has  again 
and  again  resulted  in  opening  a door  of  opportunity  which  otherwise 
would  not  have  been  found.  We  know  that  addresses  are  sometimes 
fictitious,  we  acknowledge  that  it  is  difficult  to  get  to  the  foreign-speak- 
ing immigrant  because  of  the  barrier  of  language  and  the  atmosphere 
of  suspicion  which  surrounds  him;  and  yet  it  is  true  that  men  who  are 
in  earnest  in  doing  this  work  have,  through  a Cosmopolitan  Committee 
or  some  other  means,  reached  the  ear  and  heart  of  the  immigrants  and 
introduced  them  into  higher  and  better  things  in  North  America  than 
simply  a higher  wage  and  greater  economic  opportunity.  If  the  500 
Associations  in  the  immigration  zone  were  to  cultivate  the  fellowship 
and  ask  the  co-operation  of  foreign-speaking  men  friendly  to  the  Asso- 
ciation, we  are  confident  that  50  per  cent  of  all  the  men  whose  names 
are  sent  to  secretaries  inland  by  port  agents  would  be  located  and  wel- 
comed and  helped. 


18  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


4-  On  Board  Ships.  The  question  of  placing  workers  on  board 
ships  crossing  the  ocean  to  do  welfare  work  among  steerage  passengers, 
is  waiting  the  favor  of  steamship  companies  and  the  support  of  men  who 
believe  that  the  immigrant  to  North  America  cannot  come  under  favor- 
able influences  too  early.  The  field  is  large  and  has  in  it  untold  possi- 
bilities. The  workers  who  made  the  experiments  before  referred  to  were 
unanimous  in  their  opinion  that  much  could  be  done  for  these  men.  Les- 
sons in  English  that  would  be  of  immediate  value,  amusements  planned 
which  would  relieve  the  tedium  of  the  voyage,  instruction  given  by  pic- 
ture and  word  that  would  familiarize  the  immigrant  with  some  facts 
which  he  ought  to  know  before  he  landed  in  North  America,  help,  com- 
fort, encouragement,  answers  to  questions,  etc. — a hundred  things  which 
an  ingenious  and  sympathetic  worker  among  immigrants  would  think  of 
could  be  done,  that  would  make  the  voyage  across  the  sea  more  pleas- 
ant and  profitable,  and  impress  the  passengers  with  the  fact  that  they 
were  coming  to  God’s  country,  where  God-fearing  men  and  women  are 
found,  who  are  willing  to  help  the  newcomer  to  live  as  men  should  live 
in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

5.  In  Port  Work.  The  port  work  on  both  sides  the  ocean  is  highly 
commendable.  The  services  rendered  by  many  of  these  secretaries  are 
such  as  commend  themselves  to  our  Father.  The  European  secretaries 
who  do  not  visit  America  and  are  not  familiar  with  conditions  confront- 
ing immigrants  coming  to  the  new  world,  would  undoubtedly  prove  more 
efficient,  if  they  cou!4  visit  this  country  and  observe  conditions  which 
immigrants  must  meet.  If  the  steerage  work  is  developed,  the  oppor- 
tunity may  be  offered  most  European  port  workers  to  cross  the  ocean, 
serve  the  immigrants  en  route  to  the  new  world,  and  thus  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  facts  and  conditions  which  will  make  their  work  in  ports 
of  embarkation  of  much  greater  value  to  the  immigrants.  There  are 
some  European  ports  of  considerable  importance,  unmanned,  such  as 
Fiume  and  Trieste,  Genoa  and  Palermo,  Bremen  and  Patras,  London 
and  Queenstown,  etc.  Thousands  of  emigrants  leave  these  ports  every 
year  and,  as  far  as  the  Association  is  concerned,  no  work  is  done  for 
them. 

Good  work  is  done  in  the  ports  of  North  America.  The  lan- 
guage difficulty  is  felt  by  the  men  of  one  tongue  doing  work  in  some 
of  these  ports  and  they  would  be  able  to  render  a larger  and  better 
service  if  they  could  converse  in  half  a dozen  tongues  rather  than  in 
English  only.  The  number  of  ships  entering  minor  ports  such  as  Balti- 
more, Philadelphia  and  Boston,  is  not  large — only  one  or  two  a week. 
When  a ship  docks,  the  secretary  spends  from  four  to  five  hours  meet- 
ing and  helping  immigrants;  if  for  this  half  day,  he  could  secure  the 
service  of  a linguist,  who  is  a Christian  man  of  judgment,  better  work 
could  be  done. 

6.  In  Co-operation.  The  Association  has  shown  the  spirit  of  co- 
operation in  its  past  activity,  but  it  has  not  taken  a hand  in  the  promo- 
tion of  legislation  by  either  Federal  or  State  legislations  relative  to  im- 
migration problems.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  Association  to  concentrate 
its  efforts  upon  personal  service,  but  it  has  not  lost  sight  of  the  enlist- 
ment of  other  public-spirited  bodies  in  welfare  work  for  immigrants. 
Hence  while  emphasizing  the  importance  of  personal  touch,  it  has  stimu- 
lated ship  companies,  boards  of  trade,  public  school  directors,  laymen’s 
organizations,  social  committees,  ministeriums,  etc.,  and  has  from  its 
wide  experience  furnished  information  bearing  upon  immigration  to 
philanthropic  organizations  as  well  as  State  and  Federal  governmental 
officials.  Direct  personal  service  and  a readiness  to  co-operate  with 


Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant  19 


every  organization  having  the  best  interest  of  the  immigrant  in  mind, 
have  been  the  lines  along  which  the  Association  has  projected  its  work, 
and  the  large  public  service  rendered  by  it  in  the  past  is  a guarantee  of 
the  future  attitude  of  the  Association. 

7.  In  Teaching  English.  More  and  more  do  employers  of  foreign- 
speaking men  feel  their  responsibility  toward  the  immigrant  and  are 
paying  the  cost  of  teaching  English  to  them.  Firms  are  furnishing 
quarters  where  their  employees  may  come  for  education  and  amusement, 
instruction  by  illustrated  lectures  and  fellowship.  The  men  who  have 
contributed  most  to  work  of  this  character  firmly  believe  in  it  as  a wise 
investment  and  are  co-operating  with  the  Association  to  place  the  work 
on  a firm  and  satisfactory  basis.  We  believe  this  plan  practicable  and 
look  forward  to  extensive  development  in  the  future. 


VI.  RESOLUTIONS. 

1.  Resolved,  That  the  presence  in  the  United  States,  of  fourteen  and 
one-half  million  foreign  born  people  (15  per  cent  of  the  entire  nation), 
constitutes  a challenge  to  the  Associations  to  render  services  in  behalf 
of  the  men  and  boys  of  foreign  parentage,  and  since  approximately  60 
per  cent  of  the  adults  is  non-English  speaking,  special  care  should  be 
given  to  the  adaptation  of  suitable  means  for  this  service. 

II.  Resolved,  That  a rich  and  responsive  field  is  open  to  the  Associa- 
tions of  Canada  in  the  rapidly  increasing  number  of  immigrants,  three- 
fourths  of  whom  speak  English,  and  are  therefore  open  to  immediate 
enlistment  by  the  Association. 

III.  Resolved,  That  this  challenge  comes  with  special  effect  to  those 
American  Associations  in  that  “Work-shop  of  the  Nation,”  located  east 
of  the  Mississippi,  and  north  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers,  and  the 
Associations  in  the  greater  cities  of  Canada,  in  which  a majority  of  the 
non-English  speaking  immigrants  locate. 

IV.  Resolved,  That  while  great  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid  stimu- 
lating immigration,  we  commend  the  policy  of  coming  into  contact  with 
the  immigrant  as  soon  as  possible,  thereby  showing  the  Christian  spirit 
of  service  at  the  time  of  special  need. 

V.  Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  five-fold  plan  of  work  now  devel- 
oping: 

X.  At  the  ports  of  embarkation, 

2.  En  route  in  steerage  and  second  cabin, 

3.  At  the  ports  of  entry, 

4.  At  distributing  points, 

5.  At  destination, 

and  we  recognize  this  work  as  an  illustration  of  the  fraternity,  strength, 
and  scope  of  the  Association,  combining,  as  it  does,  in  a common  ser- 
vice, the  World’s  Committee;  The  National  Councils,  The  International 
Committee;  The  State  Committees,  and  the  local  Associations  of  the 
continents  of  the  world. 

VI.  Resolved,  That  we  commend  the  policy  of  standardizing  the 
forms  of  service  and  the  printed  matter  in  use  among  immigrants  in 
transit;  we  also  urge  the  necessity  for  special  training  of  secretaries  who 
do  this  work. 


20  Report  of  Commission  on  the  Association  and  the  Immigrant 


VII.  Resolved,  That  we  welcome  the  evidence  of  progress  in  placing 
representatives  of  the  Association  on  board  immigrant  ships,  and  believe 
that  a service  can  be  rendered  to  immigrants  en  route  that  will  be  of 
value  to  them  and  justify  the  support  of  such  work  by  the  steamship 
companies  and  the  government  concerned. 

VIII.  Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  non-proselyting  basis  upon 
which  all  of  the  work  is  done.  We  would  urge,  however,  that  no  op- 
portunity be  lost  to  make  known  to  the  immigrant  the  whole  message  of 
the  Association;  the  message  of  individual  salvation  as  well  as  of  social 
service. 

IX.  Resolved,  That  the  system  of  “English  for  Coming  Americans," 
as  developed  by  Dr.  Peter  Roberts,  has  proved  to  be  a particularly  effec- 
tive instrument  of  service,  and  we  recommend  that  arrangements  be 
made,  if  possible,  with  the  training  schools  and  summer  schools,  for 
teaching  this  system  to  those  who  are  to  work  in  the  immigration  zone. 

X.  Resolved,  That  we  approve  the  work  of  the  Industrial  Service 
Movement,  and  its  effect  upon  immigrants.  We  believe  that  large  re- 
sults must  follow  when  thousands  of  students  are  engaged  in  personal 
service  to  immigrants,  for  thus  personal  contact  is  afforded,  which  cre- 
ates mutual  understanding  and  good  will.  And  it  is  a wise  plan  to  use 
as  many  volunteers  as  possible  in  the  various  forms  of  service  to  immi- 
grants, since  we  believe  that  intercourse  with  Christian  Americans  is 
one  of  the  essential  needs  of  the  immigrant. 

XI.  Resolved,  That  we  note  with  satisfaction  the  growing  activities 
of  the  Association  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  their  effort  to  anticipate  the 
increase  of  immigration  to  that  section.  We  commend  their  Confer- 
ences and  plans,  as  good  statesmanship. 

XII.  Resolved,  That  the  extent  to  which  the  training  for  secretaries 
and  the  employment  work  have  received  the  attention  of  the  Association, 
is  worthy  of  mention  as  a valuable  and  patriotic  service. 

XIII.  Resolved,  That  we  observe  with  satisfaction  the  willingness  of 
employers  to  pay  the  cost  incurred  by  the  Association  in  teaching 
English  to  their  employees,  and  we  commend  their  example  to  em- 
ployers generally. 

XIV.  Resolved,  That  it  is  important  that  the  Association  shall  be 
informed  as  to  the  working,  living,  and  leisure  conditions  of  the  foreign- 
born  worker,  and  that  the  prevention  of  wrong  conditions  is  a legitimate 
part  of  the  Association’s  program  of  service,  so  long  as  it  may  be  ac- 
complished through  approved  Association  methods. 

XV.  Resolved,  That  the  co-operation  with  other  agencies  at  work 
for  the  immigrant  is  one  of  the  best  forms  of  service,  and  that  such  co- 
operation should  be  given  generously  along  the  lines  set  forth  on  pages 
13  and  15  of  this  report,  and  along  such  other  appropriate  lines  as  relate  to 
the  welcome,  protection,  education  and  advice  of  the  immigrants. 

XVI.  Resolved,  That  we  heartily  commend  the  International  Con- 
vention on  Immigration,  proposed  by  the  Director  of  the  Panama-Pacific 
Exhibition,  to  be  held  in  San  Francisco  in  1915,  that  we  shall  be  pleased 
to  co-operate  in  this  Convention,  and  that  we  believe  a World’s  Con- 
ference of  representatives  of  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  workers 
interested  in  immigration  could  be  held  in  conjunction  with  this  Conven- 
tion, to  which  affliated  agencies  might  be  invited. 


